People vs. Money Tour

People vs. Money Tour

M.I.A. performing at Bonnaroo festival, 2008
Tour by M.I.A.
Associated album Arular (2005)
Kala (2007)
Start date Monterrey, Mexico, 1 March 2008
End date Manchester, Tennessee, US 13 June 2008
Legs 1
Shows 2 in Mexico
27 in United States
29 in total
M.I.A. tour chronology
Kala Tour
(2007)
People Vs. Money Tour
(2008)
Maya Tour
(2010/2011)

The People vs. Money Tour was a 2008 M.I.A. concert tour in support of her studio album Kala. Concerts also featured songs from her debut album Arular. It began on 26 April 2008 and ended on June 13 in Manchester, Tennessee. The tour featured dates in Central America, the USA and Canada. Her 2008 dates began with two performances at the MX Beat festival in Monterrey, Mexico in March, following the end of her Kala Tour. M.I.A. later cancelled the European dates of the tour, which ended at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on 13 June 2008.[1][2]

Contents

Tour details

The 2008 tour was announced by M.I.A. in April 2008 via her Myspace and official website.[3] A continuation of the Kala Tour, dates included concerts at music festivals, universities and club venues. The set consisted of M.I.A., back up singer Cherry, DJs Low Budget and in other concerts Million Dollar Mano, dancers and supporting vocalists. M.I.A.’s DJs also perform opening sets before her shows. She met backup dancer Cisko after viewing videos of his dances on YouTube.

Holy Fuck opened for M.I.A. from April 26 - May 12, 2008.[4] Egyptian Lover supported M.I.A. on a few dates during the tour, as well as Rye Rye who, along with MGMT, opened for M.I.A. on April 11, 2008.[5][6]

Continuing with a similar set to her KALA Tour concerts during 2007, M.I.A. selects programming, beats and videos using a Lemur Input Device.[7] A panoramic back screen features film footage of Koichi Toyama's speech, break-dancing street kids, strippers, tigers, war, video games, political rhetoric, graphs, globes, laughing women, animated graphics of M.I.A. performing and large concert crowds from her previous shows, images of her artwork and holographic patterns.

Shows

The setlist featured songs from both her studio albums Arular (2005) and Kala (2007), although M.I.A. did not perform the same setlist at every concert. The set often began with Kala's opening track, "Bamboo Banga."[8] M.I.A. performed at the final date of the 2008 MX Beat festival in Toluca.[9] Prior to her Coachella festival appearance in April 2008, M.I.A. filmed from her New York apartment window and posted on YouTube an incident involving a black man being apprehended by white police officers, which elicited commentary debating the force used for the arrest.[10] At the show, she sang a segment from The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work", changing the lyrics to "The cops don't work, they make things worse, but I know I'll see your face again,"[11] after police tried to shut the set down. Stating "They were on the backside of the stage and they were trying to shut me down...I was really thinking about the situation in New York", referencing the Sean Bell shooting incident, she felt "getting people to be interactive makes me feel more and more connected to my fans."[12]

In May 2008, she stated in an interview "I figured I might as well do a few more shows in America before I may not be allowed back in or ever get a chance to come back again - It's nice to tour around America and do every gig like it's your last gig."[13]

M.I.A. performed additional dates during her tour. On May 3, 2008 she performed at the JazzFest in New Orleans, U.S.,[14] and at an afterparty for the MTV Movie Awards in West Hollywood, California, U.S. on June 1, 2008. At the show, Arulpragasam pledged, with the money she earned from the gig, to build new schools in Liberia, telling the crowd "It costs $52,000 to build a school in Liberia for 1000".[15][16] Updates on the building progress have been posted on her MySpace blog.[17] She also performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, U.S. in June 2008, during which Mos Def performed with her onstage. Other performers there included past tour mates LCD Soundsystem. Proceeds from the event were donated towards benefitting the museum's general operating fund.[18][19][20] Arulpragasam announced her engagement at her Edmonton Events Centre concert in Canada.[21] Curating his first ever New American Music Union in August 2008, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers described in an interview in May being very keen on Arulpragasam playing at the US festival, remarking "I think she's a rocking live performer. She wanted to play, she was very into it" but that she cancelled as she was getting married.[22]

Kat Bjelland, Kim Gordon and Susan Sarandon were among concert attendees.

Clothes

Clothes worn during this tour were inspired by prints and artwork Arulpragasam created for her websites, her album cover for Kala and songs such as "Bird Flu", and were taken from her clothing line.[23][24] In 2008, she launched a limited edition fashion line held to reflect her personal style.[25][26] The limited edition "KALA Tour/Okley Run" line included Mexican and Afrika jackets and leggings, Islamic hoodies as well as tour-inspired designs including "People Vs. Money Tour Tees" and "KALA Tour Tees". In some concerts, she wore T-shirts imprinted with images of artists such as Ian Curtis.[5] Short-shorts, head bandannas, neon, retro stripes and sequin-clad attendees populated her Aragon ballroom performance in Chicago, with Althea Legaspi of the Chicago Tribune noting that "If her fans' clothing is any indication, M.I.A.'s cultural influence - with her flair for outrageous fashion - may be growing beyond her music. Fortunately, Friday's performance showed her showmanship has improved along with her popularity."[27]

Set list

Below is the set list of Arulpragasam's concert at the Maplewood Myth. Throughout the People Vs. Money Tour, she played various combinations of these songs.

All Girls Went Up on Stage

All Boys Went Up on Stage

Encore

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
March 1, 2008 Monterrey Mexico MX Beat Sound Festival
March 8, 2008 Mexico City Mexico MX Beat Sound Festival
April 10, 2008 South Hadley, Massachusetts United States Mount Holyoke College[28]
April 11, 2008 Poughkeepsie, New York United States Vassar College[29]
April 12, 2008 Providence, Rhode Island United States Spring Weekend at Brown University[30]
April 26, 2008 Indio, California United States Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 28, 2008 San Diego, California United States 4th & B
May 1, 2008 Austin, Texas United States La Zona Rosa
May 2, 2008 Dallas, Texas United States Palladium Ballroom
May 5, 2008 Nashville, Tennessee United States City Hall
May 8, 2008 Detroit, Michigan United States The Fillmore Detroit
May 9, 2008 Chicago, Illinois United States Aragon Ballroom
May 12, 2008 Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States Turner Hall Ballroom
May 13, 2008 Maplewood, Minnesota United States Myth
May 14, 2008 Lawrence, Kansas United States Liberty Hall
May 17, 2008 Denver, Colorado United States Fillmore Auditorium
May 18, 2008 Salt Lake City, Utah United States The Depot
May 21, 2008 San Francisco, California United States The Concourse
May 23, 2008 Portland, Oregon United States Roseland Theatre
May 24, 2008 George, Washington United States Sasquatch! Festival at The Gorge
May 25, 2008 Vancouver, BC Canada PNE Forum
May 27, 2008 Edmonton, AB Canada Edmonton Events Centre
May 28, 2008 Calgary, AB Canada MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary
May 30, 2008 Winnipeg, MB Canada Burton Cummings Theatre
June 2, 2008 Toronto, Ontario Canada Sound Academy
June 3, 2008 Montreal, QC Canada Metropolis
June 5, 2008 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States The Armory
June 6, 2008 Brooklyn, New York United States McCarren Pool
June 13, 2008 Manchester, Tennessee United States Bonnaroo Music Festival

Cancelled dates

Date City Country Venue
Europe
June 21, 2008 Barcelona, Spain Spain Sonar by Night Festival
June 24, 2008 Arendal, Norway Norway Hove Festival
June 27, 2008 Dublin, Ireland Ireland Red Box
July 1, 2008 London, UK United Kingdom The Roundhouse
July 4, 2008 Roskilde, Denmark Denmark Roskilde Festival
July 5, 2008 Arvika Sweden Arvika Festival
July 6, 2008 Gdynia Poland Heiniken Open'er Festival
July 8, 2008 Montreux, Switzerland Switzerland Montreux Jazz Festival
July 10, 2008 Novi Sad, Serbia Serbia Exit Festival
July 11, 2008 Leipzig, Germany Germany Splash! Festival
July 12, 2008 Liège, Belgium Belgium Les Ardentes
July 16, 2008 Porto, Portugal Portugal Casa da Música
July 19, 2008 Madrid, Spain Spain Summercase
July 20, 2008 Southwold United Kingdom Latitude Festival

References

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  27. ^ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-05-12/features/0805110163_1_arular-mia-sequin
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External links